ALL STAR GAMES

Players All Star Classic Dish from 2-2-12:

Players who impressed on day three:

Jaymes Brooks-C/G-Virginia Tech (South Team): He showed very good flexibility from a strong lower base. He did an excellent job of mirroring and sliding in pass protection during the one-on-one period. It is clear that he has not played center very often, given his struggles with shotgun snaps.

Antoine McClain-G-Clemson (South Team): He showed very good strength, lower body flexibility and lateral quickness during this morning’s practice; especially during the one-on-one period. His anchor and strong punch are his greatest assets in pass protection. However, he attacked the defender too aggressively one time, stopped his feet and then got beaten by a good spin move by Brandon Joiner.

Ronald Leary-OG-Memphis (South Team): After an uneventful practice yesterday, Leary really stood-out in his play today. He has great size, lower body strength and a devastating punch to shock the defender. During the team period, he showed excellent strike, snap, sustain ability and got movement off the line-of scrimmage. In the one-on-one pass rush period, he stoned his man on every repetition. On a few occasions, he appeared to lose his balance, but quickly recovered and stayed on his feet and kept man blocked.

Toney Clemons-WR-Colorado (South Team): Through three practices, he is clearly the most consistent and polished receiver prospect on his team. He consistently extends to pluck the ball out of the air; especially in a contested environment. He shows very natural body control, balance and burst in/out of his breaks as a route-runner. He also shows the ability to win in his release off the line-of scrimmage, in addition to being able to separate horizontally in the underneath area and vertically downfield as well.

Daryl Richardson-RB-Abilene Christian (South Team): He ran with a great combination of speed, quickness and acceleration. He is a quick-twitch athlete with excellent foot quickness and very good elusiveness in the open field. He appeared to be the quickest & fastest player at his position on either team on this day.

Dezman Moses-DE-Tulane (South Team): He showed good initial quickness off the ball with quick, strong hands to defeat the blocker. During the team period, he showed great strength to toss the tackle aside for a tackle-for-loss. He is a relentless, undersized player with some natural edge pass rush ability. During the one-on-one pass rush drill, he showed very good body lean, bend and lateral quickness with a closing burst to the quarterback.

Jacquies Smith-DE-Missouri (South Team): He showed excellent quickness, agility, and change-of–direction ability throughout practice, especially during the one-on-one period. He was consistently able to beat the blocker with both speed and power. He also showed very quick hands and natural hip snap on contact with the blocker, which helped him to jolt and drive the OT backwards with a strong bull rush.

Coty Sensabaugh-CB-Clemson (South Team): He has a very smooth back pedal with loose hips and excellent closing ability as a coverage player. He shows strong cover skills for either the outside or inside over the slot receiver. He also shows strong ball skills and soft hands. He has had three solid practices in preparation for this weekend’s game.

Julian Talley-WR/RS-Massachusetts (North Team): He posted another exceptional practice performance this afternoon. However, he proved that he is human, after having a huge drop during the team period. Throughout practice, he showed a rare combination of speed, quickness, agility, burst and acceleration coming out of his breaks. He has the ability to change gears in his route and shows the natural ability to track and adjust to the ball in the air over his shoulder downfield.

Phillip Payne-WR-UNLV (North Team): He has excellent size and arm length with deceptive speed and quickness to consider for the position at the NFL level. He has real soft hands to pluck the ball out away from his frame. He has smooth hips and does not lose speed coming out of his breaks. He is very quick, smooth and agile as both a route-runner and in his run-after-catch ability. However, he does lack truly explosive athletic qualities and elite long speed.

Derrius Brooks-CB-Western Kentucky (North Team): He was the MVP of the afternoon practice in shorts and helmets. He is simply the best cover corner on either roster. He has a quick, low back pedal, fluid transition ability and an explosive closing burst on his breaks. He is capable of serving as the receiver’s shadow in tight coverage downfield. Most importantly, he shows a real knack for cutting underneath the receiver to make a play on the ball in the air with great timing. His size and athletic skills make him a good candidate to play both outside and inside over the slot receiver at the NFL level.

Players who failed to impress on day three:

Jermarcus Hardrick-OT-Nebraska (South Team): He really struggled in every drill during this morning’s practice. He has a very weak, inflexible lower body and plays too upright in all situations. He was beaten with both speed and power during the one-on-one pass rush drill and then got driven back onto his butt during the team period. He had a very hard time maintaining his balance after contact and spent way too much time on the ground today.

Brandon Bostick-WR-Newberry College (South Team): Despite having great size and very good hands, he appears to lack the foot quickness, play speed, burst and acceleration of professional players at his position. He has nearly zero quick-twitch explosiveness in any of his movements. He shows no elusiveness in the open field after the catch.

Taylor Dever-OT-Notre Dame (South Team): He is an inflexible athlete with decent size, who struggles to be a consistent player for either the run or the pass game. He tends to stop his feet, bends at the waist and drops his head on contact in pass protection. During the one-on-one pass rush drill, he was consistently beaten around the edge and by the quick inside counter move.

Marcus Rivers-WR-Buffalo (North Team): Although he possesses very good size, arm length, and hands, he is very gangly and awkward both as a route-runner and in his run-after-catch ability. He is a one-speed, long-strider with no top-end speed to separate vertically. It is hard to imagine him having a role to play on special teams at the NFL level.

Darryl Whiting-RB-Fordham (North Team): His great size is his greatest weakness. He is simply too tall and stiff to be able to lower his pads and run with any kind of contact balance, especially between the tackles. He does not possess enough compensating physical traits or athletic upside to ever become an effective runner at the professional level.

Players All Star Classic Dish from 2-1-12:

The second practice of the day was cut short due to heavy thunder storms, so not many players from the South Squad made enough of an impression to be included in today’s best and worst.

Players who impressed on day two:

Joe Martinek-RB/FB-Rutgers (North Team): He shows excellent natural run instincts and vision for the position. He has very quick feet with good lateral avoid in the hole as an inside runner. He also shows the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Michael Willie-WR-Arizona State (North Team): He is clearly the most talented player at his position on the North team. He runs good routes with very good break-point quickness and separation ability against man-to-man coverage. He consistently extends to catch the ball away from his body with the natural ability to contort his body for the off-target throw.

Julian Talley-WR-Massachusetts (North Team): He caught a lot of footballs throughout practice this morning. He shows excellent overall athletic ability, body control, and balance as a route-runner and in his run-after-catch ability. For a player brought to the game because of his ability as a returner, he sure impressed the scouts in the stands today with his potential to develop as a back-up receiver as well.

Mark Asper-OC-Oregon (North Team): He has great size, good foot quickness, and very good lower body flexibility to develop for the position at the NFL level. He did a great job with his punch, sit, and slide during the one-on-one pass rush period this morning.

Dustin Waldron-OG-Portland State (North Team): He has very good size and athletic ability to consider for the position as a professional. During the 9-on-7 period, he pulled and led around the hole, before slamming into the outside linebacker and sustaining the block. He also showed the ability to punch, sit, and slide with ease in the one-on-one pass rush drill.

Jamie Blatnick-DE/OLB-Oklahoma State (North Team): He shows legitimate edge rush ability with very quick hands to disengage. As a run defender, he showed natural instincts with strong pursuit from the backside. He consistently played past the whistle with great hustle.

Oren Wilson-NT-Akron/Michigan State (North Team): He displayed very good initial quickness and strength, especially as a bull rusher during the one-on-one pass rush period. As a run defender, he showed quick, strong hands and flashed the ability to be a disruptive force inside.

Adrian Robinson-OLB-Temple (North Team): He has a real thick build with loose hips and quick feet to develop for the position. During the one-on-one cover drill against the running backs, he showed the ability to play in tight coverage and to make plays on the ball in the air. He shows excellent change-of-direction skills on the move in space.

Derrius Brooks-CB-Western Kentucky (North Team): He showed very quick and fluid back pedal and transition skills for the position. In press coverage, he looked very physical and athletic to stick with the receiver in tight coverage down the field.

Terrance Wilkerson-WR/Ret.-SMU (South Team): He worked as a slot receiver in the rain-shortened afternoon practice today. He showed excellent quickness, agility, and balance as both a route-runner and in his run-after-catch ability. He shows very special ability to gain speed out of his breaks on underneath routes. He is a sudden and elusive, undersized player with very soft hands.

Antoine McClain-OG-Clemson (South Team): He has great size, foot quickness, and lower body flexibility to develop for the position at the NFL level. During the abbreviated afternoon one-on-one pass rush drills, he was simply dominant. He showed quick and violent hands to shock the defender with the rare ability to snap/uncoil his hips with great balance on contact. He also showed strong lateral recovery ability and slide in pass protection.

Players who failed to impress on day two:

Carson Rockhill-OT-Calgary University (North Team): Despite possessing very good size, he appeared nearly totally overwhelmed throughout practice this morning. He was beaten by both strength and speed/quickness consistently in pass protection. He appeared to lose some confidence as practice went-on.

Mike Ryan-OG-Connecticut (North Team): He has great size, but is too limited athletically to be an effective player. He lacks the foot quickness and the lower body flexibility to sink his hips and anchor down against bull rushers, in addition to lacking the lateral agility and recovery to sustain against a quicker, faster defender.

Larry Wriedt-OC-West Liberty State (South Team): As a small school prospect, he really struggled to anchor down against the very strong bull rushers from bigger schools this afternoon. He does not appear to have the physical or the athletic ability to improve greatly over the rest of the week.

Players All Star Classic Dish from 1-31-12:

Players who impressed on day one:

Alex Tanney-QB-Monmouth (IL): Tanney consistently displayed a strong arm today with the ability to make all the NFL throws. He flashed the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, but he needs to tighten up his release/delivery and footwork in order to be more consistent getting rid of the ball fast. He is a very good athlete who can roll-out effectively and can throw well on the move.

Zach Nash-WLB-California Sate Sacramento: After playing defensive line in college, Nash had a very good day playing linebacker today. He was surprisingly quick footed, smooth and fluid moving around in linebacker drills. He displayed good instincts reading and reacting to the play and was comfortable playing upright and off the ball.

Michael Willie-WR-Arizona State: Willie displayed good quickness in and out of his cuts to get some separation from cornerback. He also showed burst to get separation deep and made some good catches in traffic.

Ronnie Cameron-DT-Old Dominion: Cameron was very active throughout practice against the run and pass. He was explosive off the ball and displayed very quick hands taking on blockers. He was consistently a disruptive force getting into backfield.

Jordan Jefferson-QB-LSU: For a quarterback who was so unimpressive on game film, Jefferson showed today why he can be enticing. He displayed excellent arm strength and while he missed some throws, he was generally very accurate today making accurate throws with very good zip. Really did well make quick and timing based throws that required accuracy into tight windows.

Darius Reynolds-WR-Iowa State: Reynolds consistently ran sharp and precise routes to get separation. He showed very good hands and body control to adjust and make tough catches seem routine. He really competed at a high level today.

Toney Clemons-WR-Colorado: Clemons displayed surprising quickness and athleticism running routes today – Was able to get in and out of cuts quickly and with a burst to get separation. He caught the ball well today displaying good hands and body control.

Taylor Thompson-TE-SMU: Having played mostly DE at SMU, Thompson did not look like a player who had not played tight end much since high school today. Despite being upright in his pass routes, he showed very good speed for such a big tight end. He looked a lot like Rob Gronkowski physically and showed good hands catching the ball.

Rennie Moore-DT-Clemson: Moore consistently displayed explosive quickness off the ball at the snap and was clearly the most athletic defensive linemen on his squad. He displayed very good hand use to defeat pass blocks and a great spin move during 1 on 1 period.

Dorvus Woods-DT-Arkansas State: Woods was very impressive during the 1 on 1 drill – Consistently defeated pass blocker with good initial quickness and lateral agility.

Danny Trevathan-LB-Kentucky: Trevathan is a thick, compact build and displayed good flexibility. He was consistently very physical and aggressive during the 9 on 7 perior. He also displayed good athleticism, ball skills and awareness when he tipped and intercepted a pass at the end of the 7 on 7 drill.

Jerico Nelson-LB/S-Arkansas: Looked very comfortable returning punts during pre-practice warm-up. He was very smooth, quick and explosive in his movement and took great angles to the ball in coverage. He is quick coming downhill as run defender and plays bigger than his measured size.

Greg Gatson-CB-Arkansas: Gatson displayed excellent foot quickness, hip flexibility and transition ability during the individual period. Showed VG technique covering WR well in tight press M/M coverage. He had the strongest overall coverage ability and any defensive back on his squad.

Jeremy Lane-CB-Northwestern State: Lane showed a quick and low backpedal much of the time (Occasionally he got back on heels in pedal and wasn’t nearly as effective when he did). He did an excellent job of reading the QB/Pass and was able to plant, drive and close quickly on ball. He shows no hesitation putting hands on WR to jam and slow release, maintains contact with WR to throw off timing and push WR off route.

Players who failed to impress on day one:

Scott Smith-DE-Texas Tech: Smith has a very slim build and is stiff, which hinders his ability to play with leverage and base. He lacks body control and balance to play effectively when on the move. He is weak on contact and has little chance of making plays vs run when he has to defeat a block to do so.

Antwaun Reed-CB-Pittsburgh: Reed did a bad job of staying over feet and maintaining good positioning after delivering initial jam and can be beaten off the LOS too easily. From “Off” alignment he tends to try to jolt WR during route and his timing his bad as he delivers blow after five yards. He lacks the playing speed to run with fast receivers deep and does not have the explosive burst to catch up if he loses a step in coverage.

Damon Harrison-NT-William Penn: He looked fleshy and seemed to tire during the individual drills. He is too slow footed and heavy legged to compete at the NFL level.

Tramain Thomas-S-Arkansas: Thomas lacks explosive burst to close in time on WR to try and break up pass. He does not show explosiveness or burst in his movements. He looked like a coverage liability today in both M/M and zone.

Matt Blanchard-QB-Wisconsin-Whitewater: Blanchard really lacked arm strength today as his passes to float and hang in the air too often. His mechanics need work if he is going to be able to get rid of ball quickly enough for the NFL.

Derek Carrier-WR-Beloit College: Carrier looked stiff and mechanical in his routes and could not separate from coverage. Additionally, his stiffness hindered his ability to catch low passes and passes thrown a little behind him. Overall, he looked out of place athletically today.